I Hate My Job
I previously wrote (well, blab) a long story about why I quit my recent job but for some reason the website had an error and I lost all the data.
To summarize, I work in the legal field, specifically, litigation in one of the most boring field out there. However, I love it. I love the dynamics of it, the cat-and-mouse game that litigation has, and somehow I made a boring profession into my passion. With that said, I just quit my job today. Not only that, I quit with what I would like to think it's with some class, something I cannot say about the management and their apple-polish minions.
Let me start by saying, I was warned before stepping into this firm. Many of my former coworkers from the last firm were employees fired straight from the one I just quit today, who all told me horror stories ranging from extreme micro-managing to catty women. One of them was fired because she apparently took too many days off to mourn for her husband who was murdered. Granted, I'm used to bad management, bad coworkers, and being constantly supervised. Even my last employer laughed at the thought of me entering this firm as my new job. But I was the type who sees the glass "half-full", so I decided to nod off all the negativism and was extremely excited to start work at the new place.
I loved the company and was not intimidated by the mass work load left behind by the last person before me who was fired, who I come to find out did not do any work at all. However, my love for this firm quickly died as I made my first human mistake--my alarm clock did not go off and I overslept by 2 hours. Rushing through traffic and into the office, I was obviously expecting a talk to by the manager. Considering as I had always been early or on time to work, start work from the moment I clocked in, work through lunch and to the moment I clock out, I thought I would only get a warning. I was praised by attorneys and coworkers for my hard efforts as I was relentless on getting the overdue work that was 7 months behind done as quickly as possible. And in contrast to my fellow coworkers, I never even take a 5 minute break to go chitchat or make conversation as I was completely focused on my duties.
I was written up. No warning, instead, I received a praise from her about how she noticed I was a good worker, but I was still written up. I had never been written up or disciplined in entire my professional career. In addition, she warned me that I only have 1 strike left until I would be fired.
One strike? So all the praises, good work, efforts... meant nothing as all it takes was 1 strike of human error to get me fired?
Afterward, everything starts to go to hell for me. No one ever says hi to me, unless I say hi first. I could not find a printer to use as I had over 800 pages to print at one time. I was assigned a small desk in the middle of a hallway upstairs (no elevator, so imagine a 100 lb girl trying to carry stacks of paperwork in heels and up the stairs) but instructed to only use the printers downstairs. When I try to print downstairs, coworkers in my own department would roll their eyes, give a rude sigh, or throw their hands in the air because they simply could not wait to scan or copy their work, although I was here first. When I attempt to use the printers upstairs where no one was using them, I was told I needed to ask for permission from the manager. For the other printer upstairs, I started making a few copies until I was warned by a coworker that one of the female coworkers will get upset if she finds out I am using it because she has proclaimed the printer as "hers". I looked around the printer, finding no personal names attached and under the assumption that this $5k printer could only be purchased and owned by the firm that is meant for EVERYONE'S USE. But hey, it looks like I'll have to pee on the printer like the lions on the discovery channel does in order to claim a printer of my own, right?
Lack of communication or miscommunication became so bad that I no longer even know what to do anymore. On casual Fridays, I was told to wear casual so I wore a top that covers skin, jeans, and sneakers. The handbook never specified any details on casual Fridays and when asking the other employees, their advise for me was to go formal casual which I did. I still get yelled at for wearing sneakers because apparently I was suppose to know that. If there is a meeting, I was never sent an email or told to attend, just that I was expected to be there considering I was the only person in my department working upstairs and away from everyone downstairs. When I was instructed to do something, I get yelled at by a coworker because I made a mistake on it (And I did, I was new to the software program that they were using but I did ask the instructor for permission before changing anything and he says do it). In response, I explained to the coworker that I would have not changed anything if I was told not to. She gave me a blank stare, quickly finishes the conversation warning me to never do that again and return downstairs without ever confronting the instructor.
The final straw happened this week where I knew the relationship between the company and I is completely tarnished. Since my first day, I had been making my own copies, organizing and helping the outgoing mailing girl who is struggling to keep up with the workload. No one else helps her, not even my own team, except myself. In between making copies, I was constantly approached by my team members about how to work more efficiently and fast when I told them it is not physically possible to draft pleadings and make copies at the same time. So then, this one day, I was approached by two law clerks who mistaken me for the mailing girl as my title since being hired was definitely not that. Calmly, I had explained to them that I had been helping with the copies and organizing but I am not the one to place them in the envelopes. In addition, I was only instructed to use the envelopes one time, and told that it was only for that one day and then I can return to my normal duties. Since then, I was never approached again with the same request. As I had to finish my work, I had to respectfully decline doing the mailing for these law clerks and directed them to the correct person.
Five minutes later, my conscience comes knocking. I felt bad for the mailing girl. And so I talked to the law clerk again, telling him that I would help as soon as I finished my work here. I also advised the mailing girl that I was on my way to help her. She was very grateful and thanked me for my help and reinstated that no one else would help her.
On my way to help, I was immediately pulled into the office by the manager. She began to lecture me on how I could never reject any requests, even if it's not in my job description. I explained to her that I did not reject the request, in fact, I was on my way to help her. Also, I was instructed to help with the envelopes for that one day and no further communication was sent to me about it since then. Just like my coworker, she gave me a blank stare, rushes to end the meeting and advises me to help out.
You could imagine how pissed off I was at that moment.
I went up to the law clerk who snitched on me, said in a loud voice so that the person who reported me to the management would hear, that remember how I told you I was going to help you with the mailing? I'll have to go soon so I'll do that in the morning okay? He refused to turn around and face me and only responded with a whisper "okay". It was confirmed that talking to the top boss made no difference--he just don't give a damn.
I was not hired to get bullied, and I sure was not hired to be punished for something that I did not do or was not told to do. I didn't get in trouble for my work performance--I was getting yelled at for things that I was told to do or I was not even aware I was supposed to do as I was NOT the mailing girl, and any persons at the same position before me NEVER had to do additional task. I did not mind helping, but at this point, it was strictly bullying and shoving work to me as if I was less of an equal member of the team.
So it was decided. Many different ideas run through my mind as I have no reason to respect a management and the people involved had proven that they won't show the same respect. With the support of my fiancee and friends, I woke up first thing in the morning to ensure I would be one of the first to appear at the office. Dressed as if I was going to work, I marched in, smiled and greeted some coworkers, walked up to my desk and quickly took my personal items. They will not have them and they damn well will not get the satisfaction to continue their bullying and firing me as a result like every employee that they fired before me. And then, I walked out, never looking back and knowing I burned a bridge (which I had never done with any of my previous employers) with a smile on my face and a torch in one hand.
After I had left, it had come to my attention that one of the persons who tried to get me into trouble, intentionally did not like me as a result of my physical looks. I was the "pretty girl" and she had an infamous history of always picking on the pretty ones. And on my third day working at this firm, fresh rumors about me had already been spreading like wildfire.
**I already have another job offer at a better company elsewhere as this starts to take place. Obviously, I knew better than to leave without a backup. Even if that is not the case, my financial situation is very stable and secure so my goal of looking for a job is a career move for personal growth, not a money motivated one.
To summarize, I work in the legal field, specifically, litigation in one of the most boring field out there. However, I love it. I love the dynamics of it, the cat-and-mouse game that litigation has, and somehow I made a boring profession into my passion. With that said, I just quit my job today. Not only that, I quit with what I would like to think it's with some class, something I cannot say about the management and their apple-polish minions.
Let me start by saying, I was warned before stepping into this firm. Many of my former coworkers from the last firm were employees fired straight from the one I just quit today, who all told me horror stories ranging from extreme micro-managing to catty women. One of them was fired because she apparently took too many days off to mourn for her husband who was murdered. Granted, I'm used to bad management, bad coworkers, and being constantly supervised. Even my last employer laughed at the thought of me entering this firm as my new job. But I was the type who sees the glass "half-full", so I decided to nod off all the negativism and was extremely excited to start work at the new place.
I loved the company and was not intimidated by the mass work load left behind by the last person before me who was fired, who I come to find out did not do any work at all. However, my love for this firm quickly died as I made my first human mistake--my alarm clock did not go off and I overslept by 2 hours. Rushing through traffic and into the office, I was obviously expecting a talk to by the manager. Considering as I had always been early or on time to work, start work from the moment I clocked in, work through lunch and to the moment I clock out, I thought I would only get a warning. I was praised by attorneys and coworkers for my hard efforts as I was relentless on getting the overdue work that was 7 months behind done as quickly as possible. And in contrast to my fellow coworkers, I never even take a 5 minute break to go chitchat or make conversation as I was completely focused on my duties.
I was written up. No warning, instead, I received a praise from her about how she noticed I was a good worker, but I was still written up. I had never been written up or disciplined in entire my professional career. In addition, she warned me that I only have 1 strike left until I would be fired.
One strike? So all the praises, good work, efforts... meant nothing as all it takes was 1 strike of human error to get me fired?
Afterward, everything starts to go to hell for me. No one ever says hi to me, unless I say hi first. I could not find a printer to use as I had over 800 pages to print at one time. I was assigned a small desk in the middle of a hallway upstairs (no elevator, so imagine a 100 lb girl trying to carry stacks of paperwork in heels and up the stairs) but instructed to only use the printers downstairs. When I try to print downstairs, coworkers in my own department would roll their eyes, give a rude sigh, or throw their hands in the air because they simply could not wait to scan or copy their work, although I was here first. When I attempt to use the printers upstairs where no one was using them, I was told I needed to ask for permission from the manager. For the other printer upstairs, I started making a few copies until I was warned by a coworker that one of the female coworkers will get upset if she finds out I am using it because she has proclaimed the printer as "hers". I looked around the printer, finding no personal names attached and under the assumption that this $5k printer could only be purchased and owned by the firm that is meant for EVERYONE'S USE. But hey, it looks like I'll have to pee on the printer like the lions on the discovery channel does in order to claim a printer of my own, right?
Lack of communication or miscommunication became so bad that I no longer even know what to do anymore. On casual Fridays, I was told to wear casual so I wore a top that covers skin, jeans, and sneakers. The handbook never specified any details on casual Fridays and when asking the other employees, their advise for me was to go formal casual which I did. I still get yelled at for wearing sneakers because apparently I was suppose to know that. If there is a meeting, I was never sent an email or told to attend, just that I was expected to be there considering I was the only person in my department working upstairs and away from everyone downstairs. When I was instructed to do something, I get yelled at by a coworker because I made a mistake on it (And I did, I was new to the software program that they were using but I did ask the instructor for permission before changing anything and he says do it). In response, I explained to the coworker that I would have not changed anything if I was told not to. She gave me a blank stare, quickly finishes the conversation warning me to never do that again and return downstairs without ever confronting the instructor.
The final straw happened this week where I knew the relationship between the company and I is completely tarnished. Since my first day, I had been making my own copies, organizing and helping the outgoing mailing girl who is struggling to keep up with the workload. No one else helps her, not even my own team, except myself. In between making copies, I was constantly approached by my team members about how to work more efficiently and fast when I told them it is not physically possible to draft pleadings and make copies at the same time. So then, this one day, I was approached by two law clerks who mistaken me for the mailing girl as my title since being hired was definitely not that. Calmly, I had explained to them that I had been helping with the copies and organizing but I am not the one to place them in the envelopes. In addition, I was only instructed to use the envelopes one time, and told that it was only for that one day and then I can return to my normal duties. Since then, I was never approached again with the same request. As I had to finish my work, I had to respectfully decline doing the mailing for these law clerks and directed them to the correct person.
Five minutes later, my conscience comes knocking. I felt bad for the mailing girl. And so I talked to the law clerk again, telling him that I would help as soon as I finished my work here. I also advised the mailing girl that I was on my way to help her. She was very grateful and thanked me for my help and reinstated that no one else would help her.
On my way to help, I was immediately pulled into the office by the manager. She began to lecture me on how I could never reject any requests, even if it's not in my job desc
You could imagine how pissed off I was at that moment.
I went up to the law clerk who snitched on me, said in a loud voice so that the person who reported me to the management would hear, that remember how I told you I was going to help you with the mailing? I'll have to go soon so I'll do that in the morning okay? He refused to turn around and face me and only responded with a whisper "okay". It was confirmed that talking to the top boss made no difference--he just don't give a damn.
I was not hired to get bullied, and I sure was not hired to be punished for something that I did not do or was not told to do. I didn't get in trouble for my work performance--I was getting yelled at for things that I was told to do or I was not even aware I was supposed to do as I was NOT the mailing girl, and any persons at the same position before me NEVER had to do additional task. I did not mind helping, but at this point, it was strictly bullying and shoving work to me as if I was less of an equal member of the team.
So it was decided. Many different ideas run through my mind as I have no reason to respect a management and the people involved had proven that they won't show the same respect. With the support of my fiancee and friends, I woke up first thing in the morning to ensure I would be one of the first to appear at the office. Dressed as if I was going to work, I marched in, smiled and greeted some coworkers, walked up to my desk and quickly took my personal items. They will not have them and they damn well will not get the satisfaction to continue their bullying and firing me as a result like every employee that they fired before me. And then, I walked out, never looking back and knowing I burned a bridge (which I had never done with any of my previous employers) with a smile on my face and a torch in one hand.
After I had left, it had come to my attention that one of the persons who tried to get me into trouble, intentionally did not like me as a result of my physical looks. I was the "pretty girl" and she had an infamous history of always picking on the pretty ones. And on my third day working at this firm, fresh rumors about me had already been spreading like wildfire.
**I already have another job offer at a better company elsewhere as this starts to take place. Obviously, I knew better than to leave without a backup. Even if that is not the case, my financial situation is very stable and secure so my goal of looking for a job is a career move for personal growth, not a money motivated one.
By:
mafanyow
Age:
31-35
